Dark Blue
by skittlestars
Summary: Tiva songfic to dark Blue by Jack's Mannequin. Tiva friendship and pre-relationship, sometimes sad, sometimes happy. T for Gibbs's swearing, onshot.


**Hey! It's me again! So here's a songfic to Dark Blue by Jack's Mannequin, which is one of those songs that make little sense when read but sounds beautiful. A different story for every verse of the song! Pleas R+R as I would love to know what you think! Criticism is accepted and encouraged!**

_I have (I have) you breathing down my neck (breathing down my neck)  
I don't (don't know) what you could possibly expect under this condition so  
I'll wait (I'll wait) for the ambulance to come (ambulance to come)  
Pick us up off the floor  
What did you possibly expect under this condition_

She barely heard the shots. She hit the ground fast, the universe liquefying in slow motion around her. The chorus of shouts and boots fading into the back of her mind.

_No... _

'You are not going anywhere.', a muddy voice whispers into her ear, the words drowning in the pit of quicksand that was becoming her thoughts.

'Nobody's allowed to die on my watch. Part of my 'do something Gibbs never did' plan. You will keep breathing. You just...come on Ziva!'

Oh. She knows him, at least knows the only one person whose voice would be filled with pleading and anguish even when she can barely decipher the syllables. _Tony._

She looks up at his blurry outline, holding her, shaking her, his mouth moving to keep the inevitable truth at bay. _All that blood..._

He is cradling her head now, bringing her close enough to see his face. _Trying._

'Okay. Okay. Hey, stay with me, Ziva. It's okay...hey, hey. I'm here. I'm gonna be here until the EMT's get here. I'm beside you-'

_Forever?_

_Slow down.. this night's a perfect shade of  
Dark blue (dark blue)  
Have you ever been alone in a crowded room when I'm here with you  
I said the world could be burning down  
Dark blue (dark blue)  
Have you ever been alone in a crowded room well I'm here with you  
I said the world could be burning 'til there's nothing but dark blue..  
Just dark blue_

She kicked off her heels and threw off the sweater she'd had over surely expensive dress.

'I will never understand these cross-agency functions. They are pointless displays of endless formalities and office politics! Ugh, it makes me lazy!', she shouted, pouting at her reflection in the lake's still face.

'Crazy, Ziva, it's crazy.', Tony was on the grass, a blade between his lips, grinning.

'Yes, it is! Who honestly expects us to care that the FBI has gotten another Hi-fi system and why does the director of the CIA wish to know where I bought my dress?

It was horrible, Tony! How can you stand it?', she plopped down on the dewy grass, and sighed.

'Because it's a human nature thing Ziva. People brag, people always wanna be better than the next guy. I mean, we see it everyday. How many of our cases just add up to jealousy and a loaded shotgun?'

She paused to consider that. 'Far too many. But that does not, no, should not make sense.' Ziva frowned across the lake, focusing on the brightly lit Navy Yard.

'Yeah. Lot of things don't. You just have to wait and see where they take you.'

_This flood (this flood) is slowly rising up swallowing the ground  
Beneath my feet, Tell me how anybody thinks under this condition so  
I'll swim (I'll swim) as the water rises up, the sun is sinking down  
And now all I can see are the planets in a row  
Suggesting it's best that I slow down_

This week had been tougher than most. The team had taken down a child prostitution ring tied to a Navy Sergeant's wife. He wasn't sure the images of those lost, pleading faces, the dirty, insect-infested concrete cells they'd been forced to sleep in, or the laughing bastard he just couldn't bring himself to shoot would ever fade.

Even into their sixth drink, his smile was burning in Tony's eyes. Ziva sipped hers slowly, glancing around the musky bar with tired eyes.

'Uh, I'll call a cab.', he yawned, having given up on forgetting the guy.

The big screens behind the bartender had switched from the game to a ZNN feed, live from the scene of a gang shooting.

'...Yes, Dale, it appears as though a thirteen-year-old boy, who cannot be named, broke in through a first floor window and shot the other boy inside. Both boys were apparently members of rival street gangs and details are still emerging at this point...'

Tony inwardly groaned. Those boys probably never knew a gun could blow your brains to the carpet. How on earth did a thirteen-year-old even conceive that?

Ziva glanced at the shots of the boy's home and sighed. It was no different from any other day. He was a victim, she didn't know him. His home would be searched, his body would be autopsied. It was business as usual.

He edged closer to her. The world seemed much less cruel with Ziva in it.

_This night's a perfect shade of  
Dark blue (dark blue)  
Have you ever been alone in a crowded room when I'm here with you  
I said the world could be burning (burning) down  
Dark blue (dark blue)  
Have you ever been alone in a crowded room well I'm here with you  
I said the world could be burning, dark blue_

'This is very good, Tony.', she chuckled, spooning the largest possible amount of extra-cheesy salsa on her nacho.

'Better than the dinner at Sylvester's, the ride in Gibbs' car, and the flowers with the 13 free passes to torture McGee?', he asked, nibbling on extra-butter popcorn.

'Perhaps not the passes. But Tony, everything else was slightly in excess. You said we were simply 'hanging out'. One does not spend two hundred dollars on hanging out.', she said through a mouthful of nacho.

'I got the money. Hey, never mind, you pay for rounds at the shooting gallery

next week.'

Ziva took a long sip of her Berry Mango Tango and shook her head.

'That is not what I meant. I meant, Sylvester's was Ducky's idea. The car was Gibbs. And do not try to tell me the flowers and coupons were anyone's idea but Abby's. But this, a movie marathon late at night, this is your idea Tony, That is what makes it better.'

She was on her second nacho as she glanced at Tony to see his response.

'Oh. Well, uh, when you put it that way, yeah, yeah, I get it. I'm way too used to high-maintenance women.'

Ziva sighed. 'What is the marathon anyway?'

'Classic Bond. Y'know, from about Sean Connery on? Agh, actually you don't know. Okay let me explain this...'

She munched on the remainder of the nacho tray, letting Tony's voice fade off, until the screen lit up with studio logos.

_We were boxing  
We were boxing the stars  
We were boxing (we were boxing)  
You were swinging for Mars  
And then the water reached the West Coast  
And took the power lines (the power lines)  
And it was me and you (this could last forever)  
And the whole town under water  
There was nothing we could do  
It was dark blue_

She wasn't quite sure how on earth they had ended up in the bullpen at 0300 hours.

Oh, yes, Tony had fallen asleep, drooling over his case report, threatening to turn the spidery script of names, evidence, and situations into a river of ink.

She'd just been down in the showers, deciding it was too late to go home and she'd rather catch up on the sleep over the upcoming long weekend. She really hadn't meant to wake him. In fact, she'd tiptoed around his desk, whipping out her weapon, imagining she was back in Mossad, taking out the top of the pyramid while_ lesser _(or perhaps less favored) agents occupied the cameras and guards.

Ziva had even nearly head slapped him, her fingers touching the very ends of the hairs on his neck, pretending to be Gibbs. Many would never know it, but Ziva David was a dreamer. As a child, she'd dreamed of peace and perfection, but soon enough of a perfect shot and a warm bed. Then, when she'd come to NCIS, a couple of the dreams had come true. But hey, there was room for some more.

She circled Tony, with a tube of super glue, imagining the praise she might earn from McGee. She slowly opened the bag at his feet and drew out his camera, focusing it on his eyes, pretending she was reporting a body to Gibbs.

_Male. Late thirties. No suggestions of a struggle. Appears to have been absorbed in this paperwork before death. He seems to have fallen asleep, to his death.'_

'That's good work David!', she said in a deep, staccato voice, chuckling.

'She flicked on the plasma, tuning it to the Israeli Network. _Ha. _They were showing old reruns of the cartoons that had always been playing in the screens of her Uncle

Eb's command room the last summer.

She could have almost gotten used to the scene, she watching television, Tony asleep, the lights dim, and a hum of noise in the background. Except, perhaps in a house, on a queen-sized bed, with candles rather than fluorescent bars..._Agggh!_

_Anthony DiNozzo...How dare you! _She fumed silently, chucking the pink tiger stripe stapler Abby had bought her at his smug head. To her utter surprise, he sprang up and caught it.

'Jeez, Dah-veed. You checkin' to see if the beast is awake? 'cause I always got the time of day for you.', he chuckled.

'Oh, and where did you learn that? The stick-up line commercial?', she shot back.

Tony giggled. 'Nah, but tell me where I learned this.'

He stood and held his gun close, circling around his chair, whipping his weapon to the headrest. Ziva's eyes widened.

'But....but you were asleep! You were drooling!'

'Drooling? What? Oh, yeah, I spilled my water bottle on those files Gibbs wanted. Meant to clean it up, just wanted to put my head down for a bit. You do a great Gibbs impression, by the way. And hey, is that the Israeli dub of Family Guy?'

Ziva groaned. This was prime blackmail material, and by tomorrow, would probably be in the inboxes of the entire agency. She opened her mouth to protest.

'Aw, hey, now, Ziva! I'm not telling anyone!' Tony stepped across the bullpen and grasped Ziva's hand in his, pressing them together

His breath was hot and his body hard against her chest.

'Now let me tell you a secret.', he whispered, dawn breaking just outside the window.

She frowned and pushed the thoughts away. No. This was not the time, nor place, nor really the person, no matter what her dreams were like.

'Let me go!', she whisper-shouted, pushing him away.

_Dark blue (dark blue)  
Have you ever been alone in a crowded room well I'm here with you  
I said the world could be burning (burning) down  
Dark blue  
Have you ever been alone in a crowded room well I'm here with you  
I said the room could be burning now there's nothing but dark blue_

Tony sat on the steps in Gibbs' basement, sipping on his beer, while the bossman sanded his boat.

'So I've been thinkin', there DiNozzo, you ever wanted to know the history behind rule #12?', he asked, taking a gulp of bourbon.

'Uh, wasn't sure there was a history, boss. I mean, I knew there was but I thought it had something to do with an ex-wife and that's private, I get it-'

'DiNozzo!', Gibbs roared.

'Yeah, Boss.'

Gibbs sighed and leaned on the boat's frame, as the flood of memories threatened to bowl him over.

'It was for Kelly. Thought we could use it to keep her off guys in her class until at least, well, Shannon said sixteen, I was for thirty-five.' He was surprised at how easy the names had come out.

'Oh. Uh, so why are you telling me, Boss?', Tony asked, trying to seem unaffected by the story, by how much Gibbs had cared about his daughter.

'Hell, DiNozzo, you spent your entire life chasing women, and you don't know? Aw, well it's probably my fault too. I'm crap at all this metaphorical feeling junk.'

Tony was surprised a word like 'metaphorical' was even in Gibbs vocabulary.

' Uh, okay, Boss.'

'It's Ziva, dammit. Don't tell me you think I'm such a dinosaur I can't tell you two have got something between you. And don't try to pull that crap about your girlfriend in undercover, because I know you, DiNozzo, and personally I am sick of having you two glancing at each other's asses in the middle of interrogation and getting all touchy-feely at a scene. You will either grow up already, or stop that behavior otherwise your ass will be off my team and don't think I'm not kicking David back to Israel.

'Boss! Okay, okay, so she's a hot lady, and I did a couple things, but it doesn't mean I want her. Not like that, anyway. Besides...it's not entirely right. I mean, what the hell am I gonna do if a whole restaurant gets blown up 'cause Mossad doesn't like me . I gotta think of that. And what about kids or a house, or what the agency's gonna think. I mean, look at how it worked out for McGee and Abby!' Tony's voice had risen, and he threw his hands up with the 'Abby'.

Gibbs sighed. He dealt with all sorts of sickos, with homicidal morons and idiots who ran off scot- free on sketchy conspiracies. They'd say all sorts of things, they loved the girl they stalked and killed, the money from the drugs was going towards their children's college fund, the guy in the dumpster was threatening to rob their uncle's grocery shop. Protection. Justification. Plain old easy ways out. Yet none of it had ever made him as sick as it did now.

In a low voice, he spoke to his senior field agent. Not as an employee, not as a friend, as a_ son._

'Anthony, for God's sake, are you really that selfish? Her idea of love is someone who won't turn on a dime and shoot her when a mission goes wrong. She's put up with your crap and hasn't even complained once in _four _years! Y' wanna know what I think about kids or a house? I say you better be there for it all, and you better not give a damn about your job or anything but them. The Agency-', he raged

'The Agency can go to hell, and you know it. Tony, you have got a real chance here, to make it right for her. So you better grow a damn backbone, drop the act, and be there for her!'

They were silent for a few minutes, the sawdusty smell of the basement stifling and strong.

'Boss, any reason why this is such a big deal for you?', Tony asked nervously, slightly afraid a hammer of 2x4 would come hurtling towards his head.

'Cause you and Ziva live a dangerous life, DiNozzo. I don't want you dead with regrets.'

_  
_  
_If you've ever been alone in the dark  
If you've ever been alone you'll know (you'll know)_

She rode up to their floor on the elevator, surprisingly Gibbs-free and strode into the bullpen.

Tony was with another woman, a trainee off from FLETC for a week or so.

He caught her eye and waved her over with a smile.

'And this lovely lady here, Sheila, is my partner, the awesome Officer Ziva David.', he introduced, giving Ziva a slight hug.

'Your partner right? Nothing more?', Sheila immediately asked, She apparently had a reputation for scuttlebutt, so Ziva had heard.

'Of course not! Our boss has a rule about this, and I do not think of Tony as attractive in that way to begin with.', Ziva told her matter of factly with a smile.

'Oh. Well, uh, I'm gonna go see what Tresser was telling me about the ME, then.', Sheila said, heading down to Autopsy.

They shared a grin, catching each other's eyes with the same thought.

_Of Course not? _


End file.
